Finding Happiness Through Spirituality

Human beings desire happiness. We sometimes look for it in the wrong places and end up feeling unhappier than when we began our quest for happiness in the first place. It’s sometimes this unreflective choice that spawns further personal and communal unhappiness. That recreational drug won’t do me any harm. It’s only a bit of fun. I’m okay, I’ll drive. Human experience confirms that we’re happiest when we’re exercising compassion and generosity in the variety of ordinary circumstances of life, through all those ‘little, nameless, unremembered, acts / Of kindness and of love’ (William Wordsworth, ‘Tintern Abbey’) that usually fill most of our day. Attentiveness to others fosters contentment and peace, which in turn strengthens us to welcome joys and bear the burdens of sorrow. Irresponsible stimuli sometimes pass for happiness. However, they are usually superficial and transitory, leaving a hollow afterglow. Happiness is the peace and contentment that helps us to stay the course responsibly. Superficial feelings of elation pass quickly. Developing a healthy spirituality will help us find lasting peace, because the path to peace comes from reflective living and learning from experience what it truly means to be an authentic person. If there is no pattern of at least some minimal reflection, we’re living shallow lives.

Jim Maher SJ, Reimagining Religion: A Jesuit Vision